Another healthy ingredient is born in the food industry: persimmon flour
November 22, 2021
Repollés «The culture of donation is internalized in our society thanks to health workers and journalists»
November 23, 2021
The 'Corals' study is carried out in 7 Spanish cities and aims to identify risk factors to carry out interventions that help prevent the disease. For its part, 'Meli-pop' aims to teach the Mediterranean diet and a lifestyle that, in the opinion of researchers, is being lost.
La Covid It has made people "much more reluctant" to participate in activities with other people and, in addition, family circumstances have changed a lot. This situation described by several researchers from the University of Zaragoza has paralyzed several studies about Childhood obesity that began in 2019, just before the pandemic, which They are now looking for new participants taking advantage of the "new normal" in the classroom.
"In these two years, with the pandemic in between, about 60 children will have stopped participating in the project (which has 240 participants), and that's why we are now recruiting again to new patients. Last year, since we couldn't go into the schools, we made them come here, to our laboratory next to the Clinical, and that made it very difficult for them to come. This year we have resumed it in the centers and the children who come are very happy," explains the nutritionist. Maria Miguel, one of the researchers behind the 'Corals' study, an investigation in which seven cities in Spain participate, including Zaragoza, and which seeks know the lifestyle of children from 3 to 6 years old in order of make interventions future for prevent childhood obesity in collaboration with the colleges and families.
In first person
Blanca, student of Vadorrey Les Alées school, is one of the girls participating in this project, which started shortly before the pandemic, when she was in third grade. The organizers gave some informative talks at the school to encourage student participation, and the family of this Primary student did not think about it. "I and a few other parents from Blanca's class were encouraged. I think When it comes to initiatives like this, scientific research projects that seek to improve society in some way, you have to participate. Also, in this case it's about the health of our children", emphasizes Beatriz, who invites other families to sign up.
"They make the little ones physical and health analysis once a year and they also happen to us quizzes of living and eating habits for families. The tests consist of blood, urine tests, weight control and intellectual development, as well as some small physical tests. They usually do them at school, but with the pandemic we had to go to the Hospital, where the GENUD is," says this Zaragoza native.
In her case, the pandemic has not prevented Blanca from leaving the project. Rather the complete opposite. "She is delighted. He eats well, he is not overweight, but I think It is good that you not only have the example of the family when it comes to acquiring good habits. Participating in a scientific study makes you more aware of the impact that diet has on your health, and in the end It is a project that does not take up much of your time and that can help fight the childhood obesity pandemic.", highlights his mother.
"The prevalence of overweight and obesity among schoolchildren aged 6 to 9 in Spain continues to be high"
According to the data managed by the group GENUD, specialized in nutrition and physical exercise, 25% of the child population in Spain you are overweight or obesity, and although there is a downward trend of excess weight since 2011, is not entirely encouraging. "In recent years the prevalence has stabilized compared to 2015, but with the high percentages we have it is not a victory either," comments the nutritionist. Maria of Miguel, researcher of the other project ('MELI-POP', Mediterranean Lifestyle in Pediatric Obesity Prevention) that seeks to recruit new students. In the latter, also aimed at children between 3 and 6 years old, a total of 147 children of the province of Zaragoza, who also receive long-term follow-up that complements the actions that are usually carried out in the area of pediatrics. "We are inviting families to join because participation is not as high as we would like., and we will continue working until we get 300 children in the city," explains this expert in Nutrition and Childhood Obesity.
The researchers emphasize that the interest of both projects is "to value the cardiovascular risk that our children have", and that "it is not the usual one", and later develop actions that help prevent it.
Along these lines, both nutritionists advocate return to the Mediterranean diet, a lifestyle that - they regret - is being lost, and they are committed to recovering the usual food.
We have to return to the good things we had before: the habits, extracurricular…and try to integrate it back into our routine returning especially to traditional food and spoon dishes", defend nutritionists, who also advise families to involve children in the preparations made at home. "Having children participate in the process is always much better, and You also have to enjoy as much time as possible doing things with the whole family together., both outside the home -when time allows- and inside the home, where not everything is watching TV," they indicate.
The first conclusions
The realization of the 'MELI-POP' project involves the realization of quizzes and body composition and physical condition measurements for children; along with the collection of biological samples which are carried out annually. The implementation of this study involves the collaboration of 2 days a year (one morning and one afternoon), for which the researchers offer maximum flexibility to families, including the possibility of holding the sessions online. For the study nutritional and exercise activities are carried out through private groups on Facebook and Instagram, where specialists also share advice on nutrition and physical activity to promote the Mediterranean lifestyle of the families that participate.
The first conclusions of the pilot study carried out already show a improvement of body mass index and a decrease in the percentage of upper body fat in the participants assigned to the intervention group, as indicated by nutritionists after making a short-term assessment.
Furthermore, after 12 months of the study, those volunteers assigned to the intervention group have shown a significant decrease of the normalized value of fat mass index. Along the same lines, significant improvements have been observed in the control group. In fact, 40.9% of the participants assigned to the intervention group have shown an improvement in their adherence to the Mediterranean eating pattern and 8 children in the control group have improved their eating pattern after one year of the project.
The health centers of Valdefierro, the bombard, Amparo Poch, Actur North and Utebo, along with the Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital. The doctor Pilar De Miguel-Etayo, who coordinates this project in the different centers, remembers that the recruitment period still open and urges families to sign up for the project. To participate, you must send an email to pilardm@unizar.es or call the phone 876 55 37 56.
